Oklahoma State vs. Texas: Game Grades, Analysis for the Longhorns

There's no getting around it anymore. 

The Texas Longhorns are a young team, too young to be competitive this season. 

The Longhorns essentially coughed up a potential upset at home on Saturday, losing to No. 24 Oklahoma State 30-27, despite taking a lead into the fourth quarter. 

Sixteen penalties and a litany of errors, punctuated by a muffed snap by punter Michael Dickson in the game's waning moments, opened the door for a Cowboys team, who themselves seemed out of sync in the second half, to waltz out of Austin with a win. 

With that, let's check out the game grades for the Longhorns' positional units. 

Positional Unit	First Half Grade	Final Grade
Rush Offense	C	B-
Pass Offense	C-	D
Rush Defense	A	A-
Pass Defense	D+	B
Special Teams	A	D
Coaching	B	D+

Rush Offense: The Longhorns have always expected more out of Johnathan Gray. They didn't get it today, as he totaled just 55 yards on 11 carries, 42 of them coming on one play. As a team, the Longhorns rattled off 171 yards on 41 carries for a 4.2 per carry average. Decent numbers, with most of the big plays coming from the legs of Jerrod Heard. Tyrone Swoopes also looked like a nice complement as a Wildcat-style bulldozer runner. 

Pass Offense: As a passer, Heard just isn't developed yet. He showed promise but also doesn't have the wherewithal to make smart decisions. He finished 9-for-17 with one pick and no touchdowns while also taking some questionable sacks. 

Rush Defense: If there was one area the Longhorns excelled in, it was stuffing the run. The Cowboys were limited to just 103 yards on 46 carries, barely cracking a two-yard per carry average. Rennie Childs of the Cowboys found some holes as the game developed but still had just 54 yards on 21 carries. 

Pass Defense: The Longhorns secondary got toasted in the first half but turned up the pressure on Mason Rudolph and J.W. Walsh in the second half to get them out of rhythm. The Longhorns also had two interceptions off of Rudolph, including a pick-six by Holton Hill. 

Special Teams: For the second straight week, it's special teams that ultimately costs the Longhorns a contest. Last week, Nick Rose missed an extra point that would've completed a wild comeback. This week, Dickson's muffed snap gave the Cowboys a gimme try at a game-winning field goal. 

Coaching: Charlie Strong did the best with what he had. However, his inability to coach his young quarterback on the art of throwing it away and avoiding sacks on 3rd-and-long situations, as well as his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that set up Oklahoma State's game-tying field goal late in the fourth quarter, were critical mistakes. The Longhorns were also flagged 16 times for penalties.